As we continue the odyssey of learning W40k live Jack and I fought mano a mano where he had Orks and I had the IG.
We decided to leave doctrines and stratagems off the table one more time.
Rough army breakdowns-
Orks:
2 groups of 30 gretchin
a runt herder
3 war bikes
a boss on a war trike (warlord)
3 x groups of 20 Boyz and Nobs
2 battle wagons
IG:
Platoon Commander (warlord)
Commisar
Astropath
Techpriest Enginseer
5 Taurox
Heavy weapons squad with lascannons
Hydra
Wyvern
4 squads of infantry
2 squads of ratlings
We started by alternating terrain and ended up with forest at each end of neutral ground and some low walls in a far corner.
Knowing the Orks had initiative I deployed with all troops inside Tauroxes - 3 tauroxes, the wyvern and the hydra on my right flank, the other 2 tauroxes on the left. The orks set up with their mobs, runt herder, and a battle wagon opposite my left everything else opposite my right. One group of Boyz was on foot, the others were in battle wagons.
Jack had initiative and did everything in his power to get his bikes to the wyvern immediately, juuuuust barely pulling off a charge to engage it. Everything approaching heavy he had he fired at ome of the tauroxes on my left, then everything else in range after the mobs moved up fired at it, too, damaging it.
The Wyvern withdrew with no damage, a squad deployed, and a taurox charged the war bikes and the Ork warlord, tying them up. The other two tauroxes on the right moved forward and fired on the opposing battle wagon, chewing it up with autocannons.
On my left the characters and heavy weapons piled out of the heavily damaged taurox, the other one also deployed its squad, the general shooting began. the hydra got lucky and tore up one group of Boyz; infantry did well against the Orks; the ratlings annihilated the runt herder; the astropath smote the leftmost mob; and the heavy weapons squad began a legacy of missing with every shot.
The taurox on the right that charged actually damaged a warbike. The one on the left managed to charge into the mob of Gretchin and squish one before they fell on it with meat cleavers. It took its last wound and with a shout of,
"For the emperor!"
It exploded, causing a surprising amount of damage to the two gretchin mobs.
The Orks then had a ton of fun - the rightmost battle wagon deployed one group og Boyz and the one I had been shooting embarked on it. They shot up one of the untouched tauroxes on the right and the gretchin kept coming. The warbikes and chief pounded on the taurox tying them up and, with a shout of,
"For the emperor!"
...it also exploded, killing a bike, wounding another, and wounding the war boss.
Assorted fire from Orks took out a trooper and damaged a vehicle or two.
On the right another squad deployed and fired into the Boyz, hurting them. The three surviving tauroxes poured fire into the battle wagons, crippling one. The troops on the left (plus the ratlings) were cutting down Gretchin like wheat. The Wyvern got a shot off and TORE UP some Boyz.
The Orks were undaunted; the bikes and chief again engaged the Wyvern and the Hydra; the Boyz on foot charged the deployed infantry in the 'northeast' and wiped them out in a single rush (although not without casualties). The gretchin mobs swarmed the troops and leaders on the left, taking out a fair number of troops and wounding a heavy weapons team (although gretchin vs. chainswords, servo arms, etc. was not in their favor!)
The ratlings did better than expected vs. the leftmost battle wagon, but not good enough. More troops deployed on the right and the tauroxes fired, finally destroying a battle wagon. The infantry squad near the hydra and wyvern charged the bikes - and took two of them out!!
The pistols of the gretchin hurt; the vehicle on vehicle combat continued; The last 'northeast' sqaud took casualties, but dished two out on overwatch. The northeast squad also went down in initial impact. The standard sqaud on the left made them pay, but only the sergeant survived melee. the leaders types prevailed and the surviving heavy weapons squad was actually freed from fighting hand to hand. The last men on the right went down and a mob of Boyz assaulted the damaged taurox. With a cry of,
"or the emperor!"
It actually freakin' exploded, wiping out one of the groups of Boyz nearby (they'd been mauled by squads, melee, and taurox fire already).
he Boyz turned and fired at another taurox, then charged it. The gretchin kept fighting, killing the lone sergeant and getting everyone in command to wounded pretty badly. The wyvern and the war boss were still fighting, as were the last biker and the hydra. The ratlings were still pinging the lone, damaged, smoking battle wagon.
The Guard fought back and the few survivng gretchin finally broke completely. Firing and fighting were almost anti-climactic, at this point.
Results:
Jack won handily on points, having control of the objectives.
Stuff Jack Learned, per him:
- Orks are stabby, not shooty. He was so frustrated with Orks trying to shoot things he doesn't think it is worth the effort. They are very good at stabbing however....
- Toughness matters more than newbies think.
- Speed matters more than newbies think
- gretchin mobs are exactly what he thought - damage sponges you can't ignore
- Orks are cool
Stuff I learned
- the Guard is shooty, not stabby.
- Flak armor works
- Sweet merciful heavens I now love the taurox.
- Keep people away from your artillery.
- concentrate your infantry.
- ratlings in cover are amazing
Two key mistakes I made were not deploying infantry immediately and letting the Orks get to the wyvern. Jack is convinced if the wyvern had been free he would have lost. Also, the three turns they were free to fire my heavy weapons team missed with all nine lascannon shots; very, very bad luck.
The entire family had a ton of fun. Next is more of the same but with doctrines, stratagems, etc.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Back from the Holidays: Battle Report for Warhammer 40k
Hi!
I am busy writing my own AD&D 1e clone book: it is going very well and we are having a ton of fun. But with 5 kids, a new business (taking off! we did our first payroll this month!), close friends getting married, and the holidays, I took some time off from blogging.
A New Interest
At Christmas my darling wife bought some Warhammer 40k books (Imperial Guard and Space Marines) for the boys who asked for them. I used one of the gift cards to buy the Core Rules.
We read them. The last time I read the rules was version 2, we got 8th ed.
By Thursday we had purchsed about all the Codices (mainly as PDFs)! We got the dining room ready and we played a game this last weekend, our first as a family.
Warhammer 40k Battle Report
From Jack
"After finding the starter rules free online and receiving the Imperial Guard Codex as a very welcome Christmas present, two of us, me and Sam, decided to try our hands at a game of Warhammer 40,000.
For our test game, we used simply tokens in place of painted models (don't judge us; we're new), and did a more-or-less matched play game at 500 points with no stratagems or army doctrines, on an empty field with no terrain modifiers.
We planned and reviewed for several days, then fielded the following forces:
Me: using a
Platoon Commander as warlord
2 infantry squads, each with a lascannon team.
A command squad, with regimental banner and voxcaster, all armed with pistols and chainswords. A team of 3 ogryn. A commissar.
A minimum size wyrdvane psyker choir.
3 armored sentinel walkers, each equipped with a missile launcher.
Sam:
Techpriest as warlord
4 servitors, 2 with heavy bolters, accompanying the Techpriest.
A commissar.
A command squad.
2 scout sentinel walkers, each with a multilaser and a sentinel chainsaw.
An infantry squad.
A minimum size wyrdvane psyker choir.
A Leman Russ battle tank, with 2 additional heavy bolters.
My plan was to use the sentinels to counter any deployed vehicles while the rest of the force moved up so the ogryn and command squad could close to meele combat.
Sam's plan was to use a storm of heavy bolter fire and the tank's battle cannon to obliterate opposition, while the Techpriest kept the vehicle alive.
This was complicated by our using the scenario Only War, and rolling that the objective was a relic, which was on the other side of the field from where our lines were drawn.
I won initiative by a single point of power and mostly stuck to plan, moving my force up and doing good damage with lucky initial infantry fire, although I diverted one of the missiles to a scout sentinel, doing brutal damage to it but leaving the Leman Russ only moderately wounded.
Sam countered with scathing fire, which suffered from an initial bout of bad luck that rapidly evened out, and used the Techpriest to continuously repair the tank, leaving it in the fight for the whole battle.
The resulting battle was a meat grinder, as is to be expected from new players. The bulk of our forces met in the middle, where concentrated fire from both sides eventually killed everyone after my poor understanding of the charge rules coupled with Sam putting his commissar in exactly the right space blunted the ogryn's charge.
By the final round, only our two commissars were left on the middle of the table surrounded by a lot of dead infantry. The commissars fought in an epic duel in which mine won the final fight phase with only 1 wound remaining.
Meanwhile, the Techpriest's prayers and Sam's constant shouts of,
"Praise the Omnissiah!"
kept the Leman Russ alive in spite of constant missile fire.
Too late did I realize that I should've targeted the servitors immediately; they are weak units, but their heavy bolter fire chewed through my infantry ranks, and taking them out of the fight might've saved me.
Meanwhile, Sam realized too late that with our sentinels set up facing each other head on, the obvious move was to have the scouts charge. Once they did, my armored sentinels were occupied and could no longer fire, crippling my heavy weapons capacity.
Contrary to our expectations, even a team of 3 wyrdvane psykers, basically the weakest psychic unit in the whole game, seriously influenced the flow of battle. Their ability to deny the witch meant that they largely neutralized each other, but well placed smites did take out some of my infantry and contribute to downing one of his scout sentinels, with fascinating effects on the flow of gameplay.
Moreover, a lucky roll that nightshrouded the Leman Russ on turn two took its survivability from high to outright guaranteed.
Finally, by pivoting and sending one of my squads to hold the relic, where they miraculously made every morale check even outside of the range of all my officers, I was able to hold the objective the whole game. On the final turn, heavy bolter fire finally wiped them out, but by having the platoon commander advance by himself to its position, I won on a technicality. With my armored sentinels tied up, the Leman Russ near full health, and my officers scattered, Sam would've certainly won if it went even one more turn, so in the end, we called it a tie.
Everyone involved, even the spectators, had no prior experience in the game. With that in mind, a few notable things leapt out.
In no particular order:
1) The game is actually very simple. The rules are straightforward and easy to understand. The only trick is that the correct sequence needs to be followed. If you get the firing process and the flow of melee combat in order, it's not a difficult game at all.
2) The dynamic between ranged and hand-to-hand combat is fascinating, and probably a big part of the longevity of the rules. Ranged combat gives you much more tactical flexibility and adaptability, but not only does going hand-to-hand kill models faster, but it locks the target down so they can't do anything else. The dynamic this puts between ranged infantry, melee infantry, ranged vehicles, and melee vehicles is enormously deep.
3) On that note, the dynamic between infantry and vehicles is enormous in and of itself! I hesitate to make further statements until we're experienced in other armies, since the Astra Militarum are so vehicle-focused.
4) Contrary to our fears, setup and gameplay were both fast. There are plenty of tabletop games where just getting ready to play is an investment, but this is not one of them. Furthermore, while the actual gameplay does take a while, it's downright short compared to even a quick game of D&D. I can definitely anticipate slipping in a game after work on a weekday!
5) Characters are actually quite survivable. Even without the fact that they can't be targeted normally, they're tough enough and good enough hand-to-hand that they tend to survive. This is good, since so much of any given strategy revolves around them.
6) Perusing the other codices, it really seems like most overall judgments should be reserved for now until we can play more with other factions. As near as I can tell, one of the best things about this game is that every army has its own unique feel and playstyle without being pigeonholed into a single strategy, and I can't wait to make use of that.
In any case, we very much liked the game, and are looking forward to playing it more. Some of us have since fought small battles of Necron vs. Space Marines and Necron vs. Thousand Sons, but I wasn't really there for those, and can't vouch for them (it doesn't sound like they went as well, anyway).
[Note from Rick: we were trying out the unusual rules to see how they worked on the table, so - not much to say.]
I've got Orks vs. Imperial Guard, Imperial Guard vs. Space Marines, and Orks vs. Space Marines all lined up with different members of the family, so we'll see how that goes. Right now, it seems like Space Marines aren't good enough to justify their high point cost per unit, but only time will tell if that holds true in gameplay.
More reports to come! Wish us luck!
I am busy writing my own AD&D 1e clone book: it is going very well and we are having a ton of fun. But with 5 kids, a new business (taking off! we did our first payroll this month!), close friends getting married, and the holidays, I took some time off from blogging.
A New Interest
At Christmas my darling wife bought some Warhammer 40k books (Imperial Guard and Space Marines) for the boys who asked for them. I used one of the gift cards to buy the Core Rules.
We read them. The last time I read the rules was version 2, we got 8th ed.
By Thursday we had purchsed about all the Codices (mainly as PDFs)! We got the dining room ready and we played a game this last weekend, our first as a family.
Warhammer 40k Battle Report
From Jack
"After finding the starter rules free online and receiving the Imperial Guard Codex as a very welcome Christmas present, two of us, me and Sam, decided to try our hands at a game of Warhammer 40,000.
For our test game, we used simply tokens in place of painted models (don't judge us; we're new), and did a more-or-less matched play game at 500 points with no stratagems or army doctrines, on an empty field with no terrain modifiers.
We planned and reviewed for several days, then fielded the following forces:
Me: using a
Platoon Commander as warlord
2 infantry squads, each with a lascannon team.
A command squad, with regimental banner and voxcaster, all armed with pistols and chainswords. A team of 3 ogryn. A commissar.
A minimum size wyrdvane psyker choir.
3 armored sentinel walkers, each equipped with a missile launcher.
Sam:
Techpriest as warlord
4 servitors, 2 with heavy bolters, accompanying the Techpriest.
A commissar.
A command squad.
2 scout sentinel walkers, each with a multilaser and a sentinel chainsaw.
An infantry squad.
A minimum size wyrdvane psyker choir.
A Leman Russ battle tank, with 2 additional heavy bolters.
My plan was to use the sentinels to counter any deployed vehicles while the rest of the force moved up so the ogryn and command squad could close to meele combat.
Sam's plan was to use a storm of heavy bolter fire and the tank's battle cannon to obliterate opposition, while the Techpriest kept the vehicle alive.
This was complicated by our using the scenario Only War, and rolling that the objective was a relic, which was on the other side of the field from where our lines were drawn.
I won initiative by a single point of power and mostly stuck to plan, moving my force up and doing good damage with lucky initial infantry fire, although I diverted one of the missiles to a scout sentinel, doing brutal damage to it but leaving the Leman Russ only moderately wounded.
Sam countered with scathing fire, which suffered from an initial bout of bad luck that rapidly evened out, and used the Techpriest to continuously repair the tank, leaving it in the fight for the whole battle.
The resulting battle was a meat grinder, as is to be expected from new players. The bulk of our forces met in the middle, where concentrated fire from both sides eventually killed everyone after my poor understanding of the charge rules coupled with Sam putting his commissar in exactly the right space blunted the ogryn's charge.
By the final round, only our two commissars were left on the middle of the table surrounded by a lot of dead infantry. The commissars fought in an epic duel in which mine won the final fight phase with only 1 wound remaining.
Meanwhile, the Techpriest's prayers and Sam's constant shouts of,
"Praise the Omnissiah!"
kept the Leman Russ alive in spite of constant missile fire.
Too late did I realize that I should've targeted the servitors immediately; they are weak units, but their heavy bolter fire chewed through my infantry ranks, and taking them out of the fight might've saved me.
Meanwhile, Sam realized too late that with our sentinels set up facing each other head on, the obvious move was to have the scouts charge. Once they did, my armored sentinels were occupied and could no longer fire, crippling my heavy weapons capacity.
Contrary to our expectations, even a team of 3 wyrdvane psykers, basically the weakest psychic unit in the whole game, seriously influenced the flow of battle. Their ability to deny the witch meant that they largely neutralized each other, but well placed smites did take out some of my infantry and contribute to downing one of his scout sentinels, with fascinating effects on the flow of gameplay.
Moreover, a lucky roll that nightshrouded the Leman Russ on turn two took its survivability from high to outright guaranteed.
Finally, by pivoting and sending one of my squads to hold the relic, where they miraculously made every morale check even outside of the range of all my officers, I was able to hold the objective the whole game. On the final turn, heavy bolter fire finally wiped them out, but by having the platoon commander advance by himself to its position, I won on a technicality. With my armored sentinels tied up, the Leman Russ near full health, and my officers scattered, Sam would've certainly won if it went even one more turn, so in the end, we called it a tie.
Everyone involved, even the spectators, had no prior experience in the game. With that in mind, a few notable things leapt out.
In no particular order:
1) The game is actually very simple. The rules are straightforward and easy to understand. The only trick is that the correct sequence needs to be followed. If you get the firing process and the flow of melee combat in order, it's not a difficult game at all.
2) The dynamic between ranged and hand-to-hand combat is fascinating, and probably a big part of the longevity of the rules. Ranged combat gives you much more tactical flexibility and adaptability, but not only does going hand-to-hand kill models faster, but it locks the target down so they can't do anything else. The dynamic this puts between ranged infantry, melee infantry, ranged vehicles, and melee vehicles is enormously deep.
3) On that note, the dynamic between infantry and vehicles is enormous in and of itself! I hesitate to make further statements until we're experienced in other armies, since the Astra Militarum are so vehicle-focused.
4) Contrary to our fears, setup and gameplay were both fast. There are plenty of tabletop games where just getting ready to play is an investment, but this is not one of them. Furthermore, while the actual gameplay does take a while, it's downright short compared to even a quick game of D&D. I can definitely anticipate slipping in a game after work on a weekday!
5) Characters are actually quite survivable. Even without the fact that they can't be targeted normally, they're tough enough and good enough hand-to-hand that they tend to survive. This is good, since so much of any given strategy revolves around them.
6) Perusing the other codices, it really seems like most overall judgments should be reserved for now until we can play more with other factions. As near as I can tell, one of the best things about this game is that every army has its own unique feel and playstyle without being pigeonholed into a single strategy, and I can't wait to make use of that.
In any case, we very much liked the game, and are looking forward to playing it more. Some of us have since fought small battles of Necron vs. Space Marines and Necron vs. Thousand Sons, but I wasn't really there for those, and can't vouch for them (it doesn't sound like they went as well, anyway).
[Note from Rick: we were trying out the unusual rules to see how they worked on the table, so - not much to say.]
I've got Orks vs. Imperial Guard, Imperial Guard vs. Space Marines, and Orks vs. Space Marines all lined up with different members of the family, so we'll see how that goes. Right now, it seems like Space Marines aren't good enough to justify their high point cost per unit, but only time will tell if that holds true in gameplay.
More reports to come! Wish us luck!
Friday, November 9, 2018
Ravenloft, Buy-in, Style of Play, a Sort of Review, and Birthdays.
As I have mentioned before, October is one heck of a month for my family because we have 4 birthdays and a Holy Day of Obligation in just 15 days. Toss in that I am teaching this year, the teenagers want lives (the jerks), and the fact that I am working on my own OSR clone and, well.
I'm back.
Another family tradition is the Annual Halloween Classic Module; I run the Clan through an old-school module. We've done Tamoachan, Ghost Tower, Castle Amber, and more.
This year?
Ravenloft!
The crew had never read the module in any of its forms, but knew about it (of course). Everyone was pumped and looking forward to a killer dungeon with a high body count.
Each player (five people) made three 7th level characters using 3d6 in order, swap 2, and being equipped via the charts from the DMG on making instant characters and Magic Items for Everyman in Dragon #45. They divided into three teams; Scout, Strike, and Emergency, and we started play on Saturday evening, a bit late.
Spoilers for the module follow
I had Ravenloft digital on two tablets and the maps printed out for notes and references. I had tweaked the module a bit (explained below) and had a modified deck of cards at hand. I had already run the Fortunes of Ravenloft as per the module.
The entire group of 15 PCs travelled together into Barovia after getting the call for help. They encountered the dead body that showed the call for help was fake, and continued. They had a random encounter with Barovian woodcutters and travelled with the men to the village, learning a great deal from them via high charisma and roleplay. They ignored damn near everything in the village and headed straight to the church, meeting the priest well before sunset.
My modifications: The villagers explained that every few years more people, sometimes adventures and sometimes merchants. were lured into Barovia to ensure the village always had a certain minimum population and could still get clothing, food, etc. The gypsies also brought needed items. The priest at the chapel was convinced that God was protecting the people because there was always a cleric for the church in town, all through the ages.
I also introduced Father Gabriel, the priest of the church in the village when the Curse of Strahd first struck. Inspired by the phantoms of dead adventurers and the 'helpful spirits' encounter I had Fr. Gabriel as a "mechanic"; his spirit was invisible and undetectable. He would travel with the party and if they failed report all that was seen, heard, and done to the survivors. Thus player knowledge after character death was explained.
The party slept as the cleric prayed, and set out the next morning. Straight on target, the party headed directly for the castle. They hit the gypsy camp fairly directly and, after a lot of party discussion, went for the fortune telling. We played out the Fortunes of Ravenloft with the party taking careful notes, and then before too long they reached the entrance to the castle at nightfall (taking the carriage, after a wrangle).
They entered and heard faint organ music. Focused on one of the fortunes (that of the Tome, which the Fortunes had placed in the tower) they decided up was best. They went straight, more organ music. Turned right, louder. They saw the double doors with the organ music obviously on the other side (I was playing Widor) and the spiral stairs up opposite the doors...
...and took the stairs. Jack said the organ music was 'over the top' and 'too obviously a trap, illusion, or something'.They went to the next floor, opened a door into the throne room, checked their notes, went to the throne, and recovered the Holy Symbol. Travelling to try to define the dimensions of the castle they found the chapel overlook, killed the zombies in a round, and descended with a Rope of Climbing, finding the Icon of Ravenloft. They uncovered the altar, left the Icon, and took the stairs up a tower.
Let the Dice Roll as they May: I really strongly favor letting the dice roll and stand as they land. I don't fudge a number, re-roll, throw in five more monsters or have 2 run away, etc. Party curb stomps kobolds? Sure. Bunch of kobolds curb stomp the party? Sure. I have found that the results of this are far more dramatic than anything I can railroad.
All this time I rolled zero random encounters.
At this point we broke it off for the day. All the talking and walking in Barovia ate up some time. We reconvened the next day with a large volume of snacks and drinks for a long session.
They continued up, up, up, then found the bridge to the other tower. Midnight and Strahd sent 40+ bats. The party locked themselves away in a room, waited 10 minutes, then came out with a Potion of Fire Breath, wiping out the bored stragglers. They crossed to the other tower, it animated, the party used a Wand of Lightning Bolts, the tower's heart shattered, and the party inexplicably (to me; they insist it made sense) abandoned their plan to find the knowledge in the tall place and headed straight back to the Chapel. They finally had a random encounter, a group of 4 gypsies. The gypsies were cut down in 4 rounds, the party healed minor damage, and they kept on to the chapel.
Just at the Chapel they had another random encounter. Roll, cascade, roll, and - Strahd himself! He leapt out, struck the toughest fighter, and drained two levels while the party was surprised!
He won initiative and struck the fighter again, effectively crippling him, as the cleric fumbled in her bag. The rest of the party was trying to get to where they could fight. Third round the fighter, who was weakened where any blow would kill him, missed - and the Cleric activated the Holy Symbol....
...and rolled a 10 on a d10.
Sunlight blazed from the Holy Symbol, instantly rendering Strahd immobile and helpless. In short order the party staked him, cut off his head and stuffed his mouth with holy wafers, and let the 10 rounds of sunlight annihilate him, hitting the combo that kills a vampire the first time every time.
The storms broke, the mist cleared, the sun rose shining and bright, and the party headed to the chapel with only 3 of 15 characters taking any damage. The party cleric read a scroll with Restorations on it and the drained fighter was good as new.
The session ended so fast the pizzas weren't done.
My History with the Ravenloft Module
When Ravenloft came out there was a fair amount of buzz. My friend Brice, who had his own D&D group, invited me to guest DM it in return for food and my own copy of the module. I did, we had a ton of fun over a 4 day weekend, and lots of characters died before Strahd went down.
A month later I ran it for my own group. George's group asked me to run it for them, etc. The year after it came out I ran it at least 5 times. I ran it at the Presidio of Monterey in '86 and at Bragg in '88, twice in '89, and at an airbase in '90. So this was at least the 10th time I have run the module making it the classic module I have run most often, very easily.
My Opinion of the Ravenloft Module
...I don't like it much. The setup is odd, the optional 'girl reincarnated, brother in love past the grave' is clumsy, the timeline of the curse versus the status of the village requires the DM to fix a ton of things, the 'mist' mechanic is lazy DMing of the first water, and I really, really dislike the maps. While iconic and eye catching, the maps are damn hard to use at times. And I think the 'assume an identity' motivation is ridiculous and possibly outside the rules.
And the tone is so uneven! The big sell is 'Gothic Horror' yet the tombs are chock-a-block with terrible puns that would make Piers Anthony roll his eyes.
I do like the Fortunes concept, although the assumption that modules will be played over and over is... odd, to me.
Tone, Buy In, and Style of Play
I think that my most recent party was actually the one to finally match the Gothic Horror tone of the main module. My party is rather 'murder hobo avoidant' - they slam through dungeons with a time limit because they seem to have time-suck radar, they often start with parley, and avoid all combat they think is a waste.
When they were in Ravenloft they got the Fortunes, which are direct clues that are meant to lead the party to the tools they need to defeat Strahd. The party focused on the Fortunes and they basically led them straight to the tool they used to defeat Strahd on the very first night in the castle. I believe this is more 'true' to the idea of the party being a force for good versus evil rather than looters searching for high-value swag.
Looking at the module after the 'cleared Ravenloft with a dead Strahd in 270 real-world minutes' sessions and I realized the castle is a murder hobo graveyard. Don't open every tomb in the vault? Suddenly a huge number of undead aren't to be encountered. Carefully follow the clues and get the sword, holy symbol, etc? You have multiple tools that can kill Strahd quickly in the group.
Again, the style of play of my party (heroes opposing evil rather than bandits looking for loot) plus the tone of the module may have very well allowed them to skip a lot of death.
But at the same time, the players did not buy into the Gothic Horror part. At all. Empty house with the sound of a woman weeping drifting out in the village?
"If I was trapped in a vampiretown I'd cry, too."
And they walked on by.
Learned that the daughter of the burgomeister was adopted when she was found wandering the forest as a very young child?
"A reincarnated woman from the vampires past, obviously. Who has bets on mother, fiancée, or unrequited love?"
The players weren't in a Wuthering Heights mood.
Don't get me wrong, they emotionally invest into adventures. I have had them actually panic for real and have been told that my description of a subterranean lake with the sound of someone singing in the distance over the water gave players nightmares.
Just not Ravenloft.
But they played like it.
I think I need to write more about this!
Monday, September 10, 2018
Play Report: 5e
I got to play, which is nice. We had done a single session once before, this time we did a two-day-in-real-life game.
Party
Me - Human Cleric (Tempest domain)
Jen - Halfling Rogue
Alex - Half-elf Warlock
Sam - Human Fighter
Nick - Human Mage
Party
Me - Human Cleric (Tempest domain)
Jen - Halfling Rogue
Alex - Half-elf Warlock
Sam - Human Fighter
Nick - Human Mage
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Chaos, Them!, Baba Yaga's Hut, Food Storage, Matchmaking, and More....
Now that the map of the Briars is done the Company of the Dark Moon (i.e., 85% of PCs in the campaign) gave one to master bard Llewellyn the Black, sold a copy to the King, and made 3 copies. Clarence (unbeknownst to the rest) also sent one to the Grandfather of Assassins earning himself a reprieve from doing a mission for the Black Guild.
Impassable Plants and Giant Ants
Seeker used his broom of flying to scout out the largest spinneys (these are the impassable thickets of briars up to a mile across that dot the Briars region). He had noted the the largest spinneys have a clearing inside, always in the exact middle. He found that each one has a large stone in the center inscribed with the same strange rune as the Gate of the Old Road and the various 'key stones' of the Old Road. He realized that the Old Road is only washed out or overgrown in the sections where the glyph stones are missing.
The party also realized that the largest spinneys all cover the lairs of giant ants - 200-400 per spinney.
Clearing Out
In Skull Mountain the hirelings, henchmen, and PCs worked hard to secure provisions (20 man-weeks of iron rations in the Cupboard on level one and 400 lbs of beef in the Meat Locker on level three) and supplies (240 arrow, 120 bolts, 200 candles, and 12 bedrolls on level one; the long boat on level three) and then met the mule train from Esber to get everyone and everything else out. The PCs stayed behind to Wizard Lock, secure, and Glyph key doors.
Maid Service for a Maiden
Since the Beginner of the Third Way (i.e. the master monk of the Briars) had asked them to and because she had helped them so the party next followed the Three Riders to Baba Yaga's hut, deep in the High Briars (it had moved, of course) to help Vasilisa accomplish the three tasks for her 16th birthday. The party helped her: stir a 50 gallon cauldron of stew constantly for 36 hours allowing only Vasilisa's hands to touch the stirring paddle; sort a 12 bushel sack of mixed maize and wheat into two separate bags, one with only maize, the other with only wheat; sweep, wash, dry, and wax the floor of Baba Yaga's hut (just the first room). The party caught a glimpse or three of the vast maze of rooms off the 'hut' but did no snooping.
They pulled it all off while being very conscientious and extremely polite. Brigid also made sure Vasilisa had clean clothes, was well-scrubbed, and that her hair was perfect.
Baba Yaga arrived early and the entire party ended up having to stay for cake to avoid being impolite. The cake was delicious and Baba Yaga admitted that Vasilisa,
Matchmakers and Maps
The party promptly traveled to the capitol to present the map to the King, taking Vasilisa with them. During the audience the King gave them their payment for the map as well as the bounties for Ol' One Fang and Ol' Knobby. Vasilisa was presented and was quickly able to prove she was the daughter of Count Zotov whose entire family was believe wiped out in the Civil War in High Morath. Vasilisa explained she, the youngest, had survived with her oldest brother and a few guards as they fled over the Exile's Trail into the Briars and had fled (as ordered by her brother, who held them off so she could flee) when a pack of trolls attacked thereafter being taken in as a "ward" of Baba Yaga the next day.
The Crown Prince was obviously smitten with the young Countess.
More later....
Impassable Plants and Giant Ants
Seeker used his broom of flying to scout out the largest spinneys (these are the impassable thickets of briars up to a mile across that dot the Briars region). He had noted the the largest spinneys have a clearing inside, always in the exact middle. He found that each one has a large stone in the center inscribed with the same strange rune as the Gate of the Old Road and the various 'key stones' of the Old Road. He realized that the Old Road is only washed out or overgrown in the sections where the glyph stones are missing.
The party also realized that the largest spinneys all cover the lairs of giant ants - 200-400 per spinney.
Clearing Out
In Skull Mountain the hirelings, henchmen, and PCs worked hard to secure provisions (20 man-weeks of iron rations in the Cupboard on level one and 400 lbs of beef in the Meat Locker on level three) and supplies (240 arrow, 120 bolts, 200 candles, and 12 bedrolls on level one; the long boat on level three) and then met the mule train from Esber to get everyone and everything else out. The PCs stayed behind to Wizard Lock, secure, and Glyph key doors.
Maid Service for a Maiden
Since the Beginner of the Third Way (i.e. the master monk of the Briars) had asked them to and because she had helped them so the party next followed the Three Riders to Baba Yaga's hut, deep in the High Briars (it had moved, of course) to help Vasilisa accomplish the three tasks for her 16th birthday. The party helped her: stir a 50 gallon cauldron of stew constantly for 36 hours allowing only Vasilisa's hands to touch the stirring paddle; sort a 12 bushel sack of mixed maize and wheat into two separate bags, one with only maize, the other with only wheat; sweep, wash, dry, and wax the floor of Baba Yaga's hut (just the first room). The party caught a glimpse or three of the vast maze of rooms off the 'hut' but did no snooping.
They pulled it all off while being very conscientious and extremely polite. Brigid also made sure Vasilisa had clean clothes, was well-scrubbed, and that her hair was perfect.
Baba Yaga arrived early and the entire party ended up having to stay for cake to avoid being impolite. The cake was delicious and Baba Yaga admitted that Vasilisa,
"..never shirked, never lied, never complained, was never rude, never lazy, and never impertinent. She was always kind, always polite, always prompt, and had always accomplished her tasks..."So Baba Yaga informed the party that if they presented Vasilisa to the King of Seaward 'before the first snow of the year' Baba Yaga would owe them a favor. They are very polite, bid Baba Yaga farewell, and took Vasilisa with them.
Matchmakers and Maps
The party promptly traveled to the capitol to present the map to the King, taking Vasilisa with them. During the audience the King gave them their payment for the map as well as the bounties for Ol' One Fang and Ol' Knobby. Vasilisa was presented and was quickly able to prove she was the daughter of Count Zotov whose entire family was believe wiped out in the Civil War in High Morath. Vasilisa explained she, the youngest, had survived with her oldest brother and a few guards as they fled over the Exile's Trail into the Briars and had fled (as ordered by her brother, who held them off so she could flee) when a pack of trolls attacked thereafter being taken in as a "ward" of Baba Yaga the next day.
The Crown Prince was obviously smitten with the young Countess.
More later....
Saturday, August 11, 2018
New Spell: Mordenkainen's Mediocre Motel Room
From the Lads-
Mordenkainen's Mediocre Motel Room (Summoning, Alteration)
Level: 2 Components: V, S, M
Range: 0 Casting Time: 1 round
Duration: 1 hour/level (see description) Saving Throw: None
Area of Effect: 7'x7'x7' cube
Explanation/Description: When cast the magic-user summons a Mediocre Motel Room, a wooden shelter that is roughly 7' wide, 7' deep, and has a very slightly pitched roof that reaches 7' at its highest. The Motel Room is of average-to-poor construction (the roof and each wall have only 2 Defensive Points each when resisting siege damage) and is usually painted in a distinctive, even garish, manner (such as teal walls and an orange roof, or pale beige walls and a bright, cherry red roof).
The Motel Room has a single door (1 defensive point) that has a simple lock (+15% on lock picking attempts) and an interior bolt. Next to the door is the front window, a 2' x 2' opening with shutters (1 defensive point when shuttered and barred). The window is not glazed and has no screen or curtain, allowing free passage when unshuttered.
The interior has a worn wooden floor throughout. There is a simple bed (rope suspension, straw-filled, lumpy mattress, no linens), a very small table with an oil lamp by the bed, a small closet (2' wide, 2' deep, no door) a small room for a chamber pot (2' wide, 2' deep, no door, no chamber pot, has a small grill for ventilation, 3 inches by 3 inches, near the ceiling) and a built in desk between the closet and privy with a wooden stool by it.
The Motel Room provides the same protection from the weather as a poorly-made, small, wooden building. It is drafty and in heavy rain the roof leaks in a place or two. There is no fireplace or hearth, but a brazier or field stove could potentially be placed on the floor. The Motel room is as subject to fire, lightning, earthquakes, etc. as any other poorly-made, small, wooden building.
The bed is sufficient for 1 human, although it can just barely fit 2 humans in a pinch. There is enough floor space for another human and a gnome or halfling could potentially curl up under the desk. If someone is sleeping on the floor you cannot enter or exit the bed without stepping on them unless you fly or levitate.
There is a vague, pervasive odor to the Motel Room that cannot be identified or removed. This odor makes animals uneasy so that only familiars or highly trained creatures (such as war dogs) will sleep within.
The oil lamp burns dim and smokes a lot. While it sheds enough light to navigate the room it is too dim for reading. By command the caster can cause a light to shine from the ceiling over the bed (another command turns it off). This ceiling light is bright enough for reading, but it flickers off and on briefly at irregular intervals; studying spell books to memorize spells takes 30% longer than normal if reading by this light.
When anyone is within the Motel Room roll encounters as normal with the exception that if two or more creatures are encountered at once there is a 50% chance that they begin to fiercely argue within earshot of the Motel Room. If this occurs the creatures will scream at each other, pound weapons on shields, roar, etc., making as much noise as possible for 2d4 turns, after which they depart for the closest tavern. Such a fight will automatically wake anyone sleeping in the Motel Room and prevent them from returning to sleep until the argument is over.
When the spell ends the Motel Room and its furnishing vanish, unceremoniously dumping anyone and anything within on the ground.
Despite the listed duration of the spell, no matter how much time has passed since it was cast every Motel Room vanishes at 10 am local, on the dot.
The material component is a small key with an attached horn disk inscribed with runes and a number (costs 5 s.p.), a tiny bell (costs 1 g.p.), and 1 gold piece. To cast the spell the caster rings the bell, stands still while tapping his foot and whistling for 1 round, then tosses the gold piece in the air, where it vanishes. The key and tag vanish when the spell ends. The bell can be reused.
Mordenkainen's Mediocre Motel Room (Summoning, Alteration)
Level: 2 Components: V, S, M
Range: 0 Casting Time: 1 round
Duration: 1 hour/level (see description) Saving Throw: None
Area of Effect: 7'x7'x7' cube
Explanation/Description: When cast the magic-user summons a Mediocre Motel Room, a wooden shelter that is roughly 7' wide, 7' deep, and has a very slightly pitched roof that reaches 7' at its highest. The Motel Room is of average-to-poor construction (the roof and each wall have only 2 Defensive Points each when resisting siege damage) and is usually painted in a distinctive, even garish, manner (such as teal walls and an orange roof, or pale beige walls and a bright, cherry red roof).
The Motel Room has a single door (1 defensive point) that has a simple lock (+15% on lock picking attempts) and an interior bolt. Next to the door is the front window, a 2' x 2' opening with shutters (1 defensive point when shuttered and barred). The window is not glazed and has no screen or curtain, allowing free passage when unshuttered.
The interior has a worn wooden floor throughout. There is a simple bed (rope suspension, straw-filled, lumpy mattress, no linens), a very small table with an oil lamp by the bed, a small closet (2' wide, 2' deep, no door) a small room for a chamber pot (2' wide, 2' deep, no door, no chamber pot, has a small grill for ventilation, 3 inches by 3 inches, near the ceiling) and a built in desk between the closet and privy with a wooden stool by it.
The Motel Room provides the same protection from the weather as a poorly-made, small, wooden building. It is drafty and in heavy rain the roof leaks in a place or two. There is no fireplace or hearth, but a brazier or field stove could potentially be placed on the floor. The Motel room is as subject to fire, lightning, earthquakes, etc. as any other poorly-made, small, wooden building.
The bed is sufficient for 1 human, although it can just barely fit 2 humans in a pinch. There is enough floor space for another human and a gnome or halfling could potentially curl up under the desk. If someone is sleeping on the floor you cannot enter or exit the bed without stepping on them unless you fly or levitate.
There is a vague, pervasive odor to the Motel Room that cannot be identified or removed. This odor makes animals uneasy so that only familiars or highly trained creatures (such as war dogs) will sleep within.
The oil lamp burns dim and smokes a lot. While it sheds enough light to navigate the room it is too dim for reading. By command the caster can cause a light to shine from the ceiling over the bed (another command turns it off). This ceiling light is bright enough for reading, but it flickers off and on briefly at irregular intervals; studying spell books to memorize spells takes 30% longer than normal if reading by this light.
When anyone is within the Motel Room roll encounters as normal with the exception that if two or more creatures are encountered at once there is a 50% chance that they begin to fiercely argue within earshot of the Motel Room. If this occurs the creatures will scream at each other, pound weapons on shields, roar, etc., making as much noise as possible for 2d4 turns, after which they depart for the closest tavern. Such a fight will automatically wake anyone sleeping in the Motel Room and prevent them from returning to sleep until the argument is over.
When the spell ends the Motel Room and its furnishing vanish, unceremoniously dumping anyone and anything within on the ground.
Despite the listed duration of the spell, no matter how much time has passed since it was cast every Motel Room vanishes at 10 am local, on the dot.
The material component is a small key with an attached horn disk inscribed with runes and a number (costs 5 s.p.), a tiny bell (costs 1 g.p.), and 1 gold piece. To cast the spell the caster rings the bell, stands still while tapping his foot and whistling for 1 round, then tosses the gold piece in the air, where it vanishes. The key and tag vanish when the spell ends. The bell can be reused.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Major Arc Completed: The Briars Are Now Mapped
For those of you who don't know/care my players have been doing a massive arc of mapping some of the wildest, toughest terrain in my campaign setting. The arc started in May of 2017 and finished this weekend, about 15 months of gaming real world, with a few breaks and other sessions. In-universe the adventure spanned about 500 days of travel, mapping, and fighting.
The Weather- The party endured everything from a Summer high temp of 112 degrees (44 degrees to you non-Americans) to a Winter low of -3 (-19 Celsius). There was a gale where sustained winds were 70 mph with gusts to 90 mph (Beufort scale 11 with hurricane force gusts) and separately a tornado touched down 1 mile away and passed within 1/4 mile of the party. Flash floods were also a threat more than once and they hate hail pretty hard, now.
Encounters- They fought everything from a tribe of goblins allied with a giant to two separate kobold tribes. They encountered a full troll clan with a shaman, 3 holy hermits, 3 bandit groups, a full brigand band, and so many small groups of thieves, kobolds, highwaymen, goblins, wild boars, and lone trolls they lost count. Toward the end I stopped mentioning the routine encounters with venomous asps, venomous spiders, normal rats, brush wolves, brush cats, tortoises, etc.
Big Names- They killed Ol' One Fang and Ol' Knobby. They encountered the Red Maiden more than once (with no direct fighting) and lived. They met with Heruhoth, Champion of Kath and foe of the Red Maiden. They met Vasilissa, servant to Baba Yaga, a handful of times and met Baba Yaga herself once. They even saw her Dancing Hut twice. They met the Beginner of the Third Way ( a 14th level Monk of the Three-fold Path) and his disciples as well as one of his students who might be a ninja from Yashima. They dealt with the Man in Green, the Man in Red, and even the Man in Blue. They discovered the hidden Grove of the ranking druid in the region and learned that the druids and the monks don't get along.
Big Ideas- Two mountains nearby seem to be part of a weapon capable of firing at spelljammers in space. The druids think the Briars are a natural part of the world but the monks think the Briars are the chaotic effects of the Contraption, deep in Skull Mountain. The Eldar (the Men in Colors) might be merchants who will sell anything to anyone, or they might be masters of deceit trying to gain control of the space weapon, or they might be something else. The Red Maiden is probably a rakshasa with a Wand of Polymorph sowing death and fear for Baron Samedhi - whoever he is. Skull Mountain, the Briars, and the Old Road may be older than the elves.
Next Missions- Vasilissa is about to turn 16; when she does she has three tasks to perform for Baba Yaga. If she succeeds she gains a reward. If she fails she is eaten. The party hopes to save her.
The Red Maiden must be destroyed.
The party will split the loot (they held off the entire time!) and gain all experience. I am removing the usual 'only one level at a time' restriction, if it comes up, to reflect the intense nature of the mission.
What's that?
Oh! The map!
The Weather- The party endured everything from a Summer high temp of 112 degrees (44 degrees to you non-Americans) to a Winter low of -3 (-19 Celsius). There was a gale where sustained winds were 70 mph with gusts to 90 mph (Beufort scale 11 with hurricane force gusts) and separately a tornado touched down 1 mile away and passed within 1/4 mile of the party. Flash floods were also a threat more than once and they hate hail pretty hard, now.
Encounters- They fought everything from a tribe of goblins allied with a giant to two separate kobold tribes. They encountered a full troll clan with a shaman, 3 holy hermits, 3 bandit groups, a full brigand band, and so many small groups of thieves, kobolds, highwaymen, goblins, wild boars, and lone trolls they lost count. Toward the end I stopped mentioning the routine encounters with venomous asps, venomous spiders, normal rats, brush wolves, brush cats, tortoises, etc.
Big Names- They killed Ol' One Fang and Ol' Knobby. They encountered the Red Maiden more than once (with no direct fighting) and lived. They met with Heruhoth, Champion of Kath and foe of the Red Maiden. They met Vasilissa, servant to Baba Yaga, a handful of times and met Baba Yaga herself once. They even saw her Dancing Hut twice. They met the Beginner of the Third Way ( a 14th level Monk of the Three-fold Path) and his disciples as well as one of his students who might be a ninja from Yashima. They dealt with the Man in Green, the Man in Red, and even the Man in Blue. They discovered the hidden Grove of the ranking druid in the region and learned that the druids and the monks don't get along.
Big Ideas- Two mountains nearby seem to be part of a weapon capable of firing at spelljammers in space. The druids think the Briars are a natural part of the world but the monks think the Briars are the chaotic effects of the Contraption, deep in Skull Mountain. The Eldar (the Men in Colors) might be merchants who will sell anything to anyone, or they might be masters of deceit trying to gain control of the space weapon, or they might be something else. The Red Maiden is probably a rakshasa with a Wand of Polymorph sowing death and fear for Baron Samedhi - whoever he is. Skull Mountain, the Briars, and the Old Road may be older than the elves.
Next Missions- Vasilissa is about to turn 16; when she does she has three tasks to perform for Baba Yaga. If she succeeds she gains a reward. If she fails she is eaten. The party hopes to save her.
The Red Maiden must be destroyed.
The party will split the loot (they held off the entire time!) and gain all experience. I am removing the usual 'only one level at a time' restriction, if it comes up, to reflect the intense nature of the mission.
What's that?
Oh! The map!
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